urban sprawl

The Spadina Expressway was one of five urban highways that were nearly built in Toronto in the 70s. The plan would have bulldozed neighbourhoods so that suburban commuters had a direct route to drive downtown. But campaigners like Bobbi Speck and Jane Jacobs stopped it, saving iconic neighbourhoods like The Annex. Today, Toronto is one of the worst cities in the world for traffic. Should the expressway have been built anyway? We tell the story of the grassroots movement to stop Spadina with the people who were there firsthand. Does the movement perhaps offer tips on how to solve Toronto’s notoriously bad traffic?

The Pacific Northwest Trail has Cheryl Strayed. The Appalachian Trail has Bill Bryson. And now the Arizona Trail has Tom Zoellner. In 2019, Zoellner hiked the trail's 800 miles and took a deep dive into what makes the Grand Canyon State tick. He chronicles his extraordinary journey and insights into Arizona's culture, history, mysteries and more in his new book "RIM TO RIVER: Looking into the Heart of Arizona." Zoellner joins Russell and Alan to talk about it all, including the city once known as Pumpkinville. 

 

 

The Defence Minister has intervened in a case with a property developer to allow the Whenuapai Air Base to continue engine testing, in spite of it exceeding noise limits. How did it come to this?